Rail-joint.



R. T. BERRY.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION TILED MAILZZ, 1913. 1,079,284, Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

!fl g 1 Z4 1 j6 J9 1i lfiafidi'd 11561739,

Witnesses Inventor C Attorneys Ill) UNTTED sra'rns PATENT @FFTCE.

RICHARD 'I. BERRY, OF MENDENHALL, MISSISSIPPI.

RAIL-JOINT.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD T. BERRY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Mendenhall, in the county ofSimpson and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and usefulRail-Joint, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway rails, and more particularly to meanswhereby the ends of the rails can be fastened together securely withoutthe use of fish plates and with the use of the minimum number of bolts.1

A further object is to provide rails the ends of which are so shaped asto interlock, means being employed whereby the rails can be secured ininterlocked relation without the necessity of employing bolts such asheretofore commonly employed in securing rails together.

l/Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred forms of the invention havebeen shown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of the interlocking endsof two rails. Fig. 2 is a section on line AB Fig. 1. said section beingon an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line CD Fig. 1.Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a rail end viewed from one side. Fig. 5is a perspective view of said rail end viewed from the other side. Fig.6 is a perspective view of a joint member embodying the presentimprovements and which is particularly designed for use in connecting abroken rail to one end of a complete rail.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference R designates arailway rail which is of the ordinary size and proportions throughoutthe greater portion of its length. Each end portion of the rail,however, has the web 1 of the rail thickened, as shown at 2, one sideface of this thickened portion being substantially flush with the edgeof one of the base flanges of the rail, as shown at 3, while the otherside of the thickened Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. March 22, 1913.

Patented Nov. 1.8, 1 913.

Serial No. 756,259.

portion 2 occupies a vertical plane extending longitudinally along thecenter of the web 1, said face being indicated at 4. This inner sideface extends up to an abutment 5 formed by the thickened portion 2 andextending laterally from the face t toward the adjacent side of therail. Extending from the thickened end of the rail is a tongue 6 theupper corner of which is cut away to form a right angle recess 7 alongone side of which is formed a flange 8. The vertical wall of the recess7 extends upwardly to the top of the rail and an obliquely disposed face9, which is of substantially the same height as the rail head, extendsfrom the vertical wall of the recess 7 back to a shoulder 10 formedabove the abutment 5. The head 15 of the rail projects beyond theabutment 5 and up to the shoulder 10 so as to overhang a block-likeextension or ledge 11 which extends from the abutment 5 along the bottomof the rail and beyond the shoulder 10, this ledge being provided at itsouter corner with an upstanding rib 12. Thus it will be seen that arecess 13 is formed between the ledge 11, the abutment 5, and theoverhanging portion 14 of the rail head 15. That portion 14!; of thehead which overhangs the ledge 11 has a groove 16 extendinglongitudinally thereof and close to the vertical face 4, this groovebeing so proportioned as to receive the llange S of the adjoining rail.The overhanging portion 14lof the head 15 is so shaped as to lit snuglyinto the recess 7 in the next adjoining rail while the vertical wall 01the recess 7 of said next adjoining rail will fit snugly against theshoulder 10. The obliquely disposed face 9 of the rail extends slightlybeyond the vertical taco 1 so that the ledge 11 is thus slightlyoverhung by a. triangular shoulder 17, as will be apparent by referringto Fig. 4. Thus it will be seen that when two rails are assembled, theupper edge of the tongue 6 will extend under this overhanging shoulder17 of the opposed rail. Tongue 6 does not extend down to the bottom ofthe rail but has its lower edge located at a distance from the bottom ofthe rail equal to the height of the ledge 11 and the rib 12 thereon. Inother words, the top ol the rib 12 is located in substantially the samehorizontal plane as the bottom of the tongue 6. Formed along the bottomof tongue (3 with one face flush with the vertical face 4 of the rail isa rib 18 and extending across the end the upper and lower faces of thetongues for cooperating to hold the members against lateral displacementwhen said members are shifted toward each other while the tongues areseated in the recesses.

4. A rail joint including oppositely disposed similar members eachhaving a side recess and a tongue, the tongue of each member beinginsertible laterally into the recess in the opposed member, means uponthe upper and lower walls of the recesses and upon the upper and lowerfaces of the tongues for cooperating to hold the members against lateraldisplacement when said members are shifted toward each other while thetongues are seated in the recesses, and means insertible into therecesses and cooperating with the tongues for holding said tonguesagainst longitudinal movement to disengage said cooperating means.

5. A rail joint including oppositely disposed similar lapping memberseach having a recess in one side thereof and a tongue, each tongue beinginsertible laterally into the recess, there being a longitudinal groovein the upper wall of each recess and a longitudinal rib upon the bottomwall of each recess, means upon each tongue for extending into thegroove in the opposed member and back of the rib on said opposed member,respectively, when the two members are shifted toward each other, thusto hold the members against lateral displacement.

6. A rail joint including oppositely disposed similar lapping memberseach having a recess in one side thereof and a tongue, each tongue beinginsertible laterally into the recess, there being a longitudinal groovein the upper wall of each recess and a longitudinal rib upon the bottomwall of each recess, means upon each tongue for extending into thegroove in the opposed member and back of the rib on said opposed member,respectively, when the two members are shifted toward each other, thusto hold the members against lateral displacement, and means insertibleinto each recess and between the transverse rib and the rib upon thebottom of the recess, for holding the tongue against longitudinalwithdrawal from the recess.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD T. BERRY.

Witnesses SELINA NVILLSON, HERBERT D. LAWSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

